MetaChat - Metachat Feature Requests.

One idea, off the top of my head (as opposed to the side of my head, or out of my hat, or found in the field, and so on) would be:

I think it'd be totally cool to be able to subscribe to updates on a thread. Then, when you've posted a witticism, or bon mot, you change check something off, and get email updates akin to when you post the original.

Just an idea. Of course, then the lack of emails might be just as crushing as when I DO remember to check the thread and find no one noticed my witticism or bon mot.

posted by richat 20 June | 11:11

*whuffles seanyboy and richat*

posted by Specklet 20 June | 11:12

Bring back zombie bunny head! (Just a small one, in the left hand corner, before Metachat? I miss him so...)

posted by Pips 20 June | 11:22

I'd like to see monthly archives. (Or did we use to have them but it was changed because after a certain number of posts it crapped out? In that case, can we get begin and end dates on the weeks, instead of just week numbers?)

The search irks me. Not sure what improvements I'd suggest though. Maybe returning results in reverse chronological order would help, as now the order of results seems rather random.

Thanks for asking!

posted by danostuporstar 20 June | 11:24

I'd like a lo-fi option--white bkgd, no sidebar images, etc.--aimed at mobile devices and people with restrictive workplaces or slow connections or whatnot. And yeah, thanks for asking.

posted by box 20 June | 11:26

I'd like to see the "open links in new window" stay checked and actually work. Maybe move it into the profile? (Firefox, XP and OSX)

dodgygeezer once said he didn't like the idea of a straight to post button (instead of the preview step), but didn't really say why, and since there's a limit on how quickly you can post in succession I think it wouldn't be a problem.

But, overall, the site is fantastic.

posted by omiewise 20 June | 11:29

Please do away with the moving eyes in taz's emcee squared square. They irritate the crap out of me. In all other ways, the site is just hunky dory.

posted by amro 20 June | 11:42

The ice machine is broken.

posted by Divine_Wino 20 June | 11:44

How about making the "Post" button work when I'm logged in on my BlackBerry? (This problem might be fixed by a straight-to-post page; though the preview button renders a preview page, none of the buttons on the preview page work when I try to select them. I don't know why it doesn't work, but I wish it did, and it might if there was no preview page in between my words and the world). That way I could be a more productive Mechanism, and I wouldn't have to call jonmc with hypernymania answers just because it's after working hours and I'm not in front of my workplace Pascaud.

Otherwise I like it fine. Thanks for all the hard work that went into it.

posted by Hugh Janus 20 June | 11:44

Things I would like, since you asked:

To have the option of not previewing - to go right to post.

To be able to post my own images directly from flickr using the code that they give, which contains alt and height and width attributes, which aren't allowed here (not sure about the alt but the others aren't).

Embedded youtube? It seems like every blog in the universe has that feature, although of course most aren't multi-user. It seems to work out ok at MF though.

To have a small tag under the text field, down where the bold, italics, quote, etc tags are. We use it enough!

To have a google search on the search page, like MF has a Yahoo and a Google option. The search option here just doesn't do it sometimes.

These are are minor little nitpicks, and if none of them were instituted it will not affect the quality of my life.

posted by iconomy 20 June | 11:45

free continental breakfast.

(which continent is left up to the admins, although I'd prefer it wasn't Antarctica. Scrambled penguin eggs and polar bear sausage don't agree with me)

posted by jonmc 20 June | 11:47

Please add a "Smarter" button and a "Funnier" button. Thanks.

posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson 20 June | 11:48

Make the eyes move.

(Wait. Nevermind.)

posted by Doohickie 20 June | 11:51

Can I have jonmc's polar bear sausage?

posted by mischief 20 June | 11:55

Please, I'm spoken for.

posted by jonmc 20 June | 11:56

Make FrisbeeGirl finish that damn drink.

posted by essexjan 20 June | 12:00

I think it would be great if one of the side bars had the wiki's Radio Dibs schedule plugged in, as advice of upcoming "shows." That assumes that DJs would be good about cleaning up the Radio Dibs page, or that some automation be added on the wiki to kill past time slot reservations.

Secondarily, it might be nice if a seperate panel in a sidebar could echo the RadioMecha page status report (# of current listeners & current and last played tunes). If possible, maybe some similar status notes for IRC in the sidebars.

Basically, the sidebar space isn't used beyond the first 400 vertical pixels, and it would be great to replace some of the static art and links currently at the top of the sidebars with more dynamic activity indicating features, that would give an instant notification of "what's happening now" and "what's coming up" at first landing.

posted by paulsc 20 June | 12:05

What about being able to return to the thread you were reading after clicking the Images On button?

posted by iconomy 20 June | 12:08

Please do away with the moving eyes in taz's emcee squared square.

Woah. Has it always done that?

posted by chrismear 20 June | 12:15

Since you asked . . . I'd love a "my comments" page like the one on MF, so I could easily keep track of threads I'd participated in. This might also help give certain threads a "shelf life" beyond the day or two they remain on the front page.

Or, if "my comments" isn't practical, then maybe a way to bookmark a thread and/or individual comments?

(And, yes, thank you for all the hard work that goes into this!)

posted by treepour 20 June | 12:17

Has anyone ever considered it might be nice to see comments ordered with newest at the top of the thread instead of the opposite/bottom? I'm not saying it's a good idea, just one to consider and see what people think.

This would avoid scrolling down to the bottom of a thread constantly to see the newest comments.

I think it would also potentially encourage new readers to read more than only the first several comments, avoiding the "past 20 comments, no-one reads anymore" syndrome.

posted by shane 20 June | 12:19

"... (And, yes, thank you for all the hard work that goes into this!)..."
posted by treepour 20 June

Amen. (Forgot my manners momentarily, and thanks for reminding me, treepour.)

posted by paulsc 20 June | 12:20

Has anyone ever considered it might be nice to see comments ordered with newest at the top...

Hmm, I guess the "Recent Comments" feature does this somewhat. It's not quite the same, though.

I'm just wondering what people think.

posted by shane 20 June | 12:20

Open links in new windows should be in the user's profile and please, pretty please, fix the JavaScript so it works in mobile devices (I use OperaMini - I can log in, browse and preview comments, I just can't post). Oh yes, and some kind of Google/Y! search, because the site one is pretty sucky.

posted by TheDonF 20 June | 12:46

It'd be great to be able to 'favorite' posts & comments.

Other than that, as is suits me just fine. *goes to check out moving eyes*

posted by chewatadistance 20 June | 13:01

Change the pictures more often. And bring back bunnyhead! I miss him.

Oh, and unlink any pictures that are posted, or at least the ones near the top. I often click the Metachat in the top left corner to get back to home, and accidently go to Flickr.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 20 June | 13:03

First of all, I love the site, especially its simplicity, and I thank you all for all you do.

As for my suggestions: I'd like to see 'search' improved as well. I use it a lot, and it does seem terribly random. I'm not sure how the search is done, or what the 'score' means. When trying to find threads via keyword it would be much more helpful to list them in reverse chronological order, and to list results not just as

"Post by Danf"
"Comment by box"

etc., but by thread title, and include in the returned results only maybe the first two lines of the post or comment. That would allow more results to be seen per page, and also trigger our weak and failing memories by adding the thread title to narrow down results more quickly.

posted by Miko 20 June | 13:11

I often click the Metachat in the top left corner to get back to home, and accidently go to Flickr.

That happens to me all the time, too. I almost added it to my requests and then, with stern Yankee influence, said to myself 'maybe I should just be more careful.' But I must not be the only one who's inadvertently looked at mudpuppie's Flickr stream dozens of times in the last few months, so maybe those images shouldn't be live.

posted by Miko 20 June | 13:13

More Johnette Napolitano!

Actually, I have problems inserting images into the photo Friday threads, but I think that's a personal problem and having thought about this for a couple hours now, I don't have a solution to offer. But I am irritated by it never seeming to work when I hit the little image button and then fill in the blank.

I am an avid tagger, so I would like to see tagging.

posted by crush-onastick 20 June | 13:17

I would like all the food and drink threads to be live, as in, I want them to come out of my monitor in all their deliciousness so I can eat them right there. However, I do not want this feature to be activated when someone links to centipedes. Thank you. Also, I would like an instant transporter to all mecha meetups so I can just click and be there with a brief period as a shower of glitter. This shouldn't be too difficult to implement; after all, they did it in 1968.

posted by mygothlaundry 20 June | 13:19

To be able to post my own images directly from flickr using the code that they give, which contains alt and height and width attributes, which aren't allowed here (not sure about the alt but the others aren't).

What that person said.

Also, the stuff that comes up on the screen after you post isn't really helpful. It should just redirect back to the refreshed front page.

posted by matildaben 20 June | 13:33

Favorites, like on metafilter. Or in this case, "whuffles".

posted by puke & cry 20 June | 13:50

Did someone mention a recent comments link on the bottom yet?

posted by ethylene 20 June | 14:45

And a return of the tricked out past dj playlists feature on the radio page.

posted by ethylene 20 June | 14:47

See, if we could favorite threads or posts, I would be favoriting mgl's food/centipedes remarks right now.

(Oddly enough, I'm not wild about Mefi describing the bookmark function as "favorite," since they're rarely my favorite things, just things I want to find easily. Here, "favorite" seems more apt. "Cause youse guys are my favorites, you know.)

Otherwise, everything's peachy! Thanks!

posted by Elsa 20 June | 14:53

Most of mine have already been mentioned, but I'll do so again in case multiple requests will move them up the priority list. My ponies, in order of my priorities would be:

Have the comment process return me to the bottom of the page where I just commented, instead of to the top, because I find this counter-intuitive and annoying
Direct post, without preview (but still with the option of previewing, because I would always preview anything with HTML in it, for example)
Recent Comments link at the bottom of the page - because I most always use this page to read the site, I have to scroll back up to the top to go back there (yeah, tabs, back button blah blah blah, just fucking do it ;-))
To be able to post my own images directly from flickr using the code that they give, which contains alt and height and width attributes, which aren't allowed here and which (I think) breaks usability guidelines as if you care about those things.

posted by dg 20 June | 17:17

Yeah, if "favourites" is implemented they should definitely be called "whuffles".

I'd like us to be able to put our IM handles on our profiles with clickability (yes, Firefox, that is too a word 'cause I said so!) like at Metafilter.

How 'bout an option to see our profiles as other people see them without logging out. And maybe a better way to post an ~~avatar~~ photo of ourselves.

That thing about being able to post our Flickr photos without having to strip out stuff? Yeah, that would be loverly.

And yes, all of y'all with ops are are double plus good.

posted by deborah 20 June | 17:42

On the search page it would be super good and useful if I could enter my search phrase and click on the "enter" button and just have it search. Instead of having to move the cursor to the search button. (I just tried to tab down there and my computer was all, "hey fuck you. I'm going to tab down to the posts and comment knob and then the next tab will take you to the navigation below. HAHAHA.")

I am using FF 2.0.0.4

posted by fluffy battle kitten 20 June | 19:04

How about making the "Post" button work when I'm logged in on my BlackBerry?

Yes, please disable the javascript-to-post thing.

I would also like to see an improved search (if nothing else, hitting enter in the textbox should execute). It seems to be a crude match at best, often ignoring terms when more than one is entered. And an advanced search, allowing for date-filtering/ordering/ranking/whatever would be just mint. (Do Brits say "mint", or is it only aussies?)

Please, no favorites. Or 'whuffles'. Unless clicking the "add whuffles" button distributes them equally among all commenters in the thread, regardless of how many comments they've posted, how long they've been a member, and their stance on cilantro. Not too keen on tags, either.

posted by Eideteker 20 June | 20:17

I always liked a feature they had on Monkeyfilter. When one is logged in, there is a sidebar on the right that lists both recent posts and posts with recent comments. Their threads stay open forever, I believe.

posted by Orange Swan 20 June | 21:58

First, thanks to you for all the hard work that you already do.

Second, I'd also like to see the pictures rotated out on a more timely basis. Like, every other week or so? Or at least every month?

Third, I like how this is not MetaFilter. If/when I eventually join, I'm sure I'll love the "favorites" thing or whatever, but I like it here because this place doesn't need all the bells and whistles of MeFi. If MeFi is the popular chick in the teen movie who has all the boys after her, MeCha is the pretty ugly girl who they make up and turns out to be a total bombshell when the captain of the football team shows up to take her to the dance. But I think she looked pretty even before the stupid makeover!

posted by TrishaLynn 20 June | 22:00

Google or Yahoo search? +
New pictures more often? +
Posting without preview? -
Tags? -
Favorites? -
The Flickr thing? Neutral.

posted by arse_hat 20 June | 23:35

MeCha is the pretty ugly girl who they make up and turns out to be a total bombshell when the captain of the football team shows up to take her to the dance.

No. Mecha is the stoners out in the woods getting high during biology class, and wouldn't be caught dead at a school dance.

posted by jonmc 21 June | 08:51

If MeFi is the popular chick in the teen movie who has all the boys after her, MeCha is the pretty ugly girl who they make up and turns out to be a total bombshell when the captain of the football team shows up to take her to the dance. But I think she looked pretty even before the stupid makeover!

No. Mecha is the stoners out in the woods getting high during biology class, and wouldn't be caught dead at a school dance.

Huh?

posted by box 21 June | 09:44

Perhaps there's already a way to do this in Firefox that I'm not aware of, but MeFi automatically opens linked items in a new tab, and I wish MeCha did the same.

posted by PaxDigita 21 June | 14:47

WHAT FBK SAID...that has driven me crazy for YEARS! YEARS.

posted by SassHat 22 June | 00:23

Oh, I just found this thread from the sidebar, I hope I'm not too late!

I'd very much appreciate some sort of recent activity page (like mefi's) so following older comments would be easier. As it is, it's a hassle to click on each of my comments in to see what I wrote and to see if there was anyone who responded. THAT WOULD BE GREAT!

Thanks you.

posted by philomathoholic 05 September | 15:43

I kind of like the "member since..." thing on MeFi. I'm not even sure when I created an account at mecha. I do know that there was a big photo of a bunny on the front page at that time.

posted by pieisexactlythree 30 January | 02:58

20 June 2007